Editorial: Put pensions on the line to end corruption

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara uses a chart during a news conference Tuesday to explain that a New York state lawmaker was arrested along with several other politicians, in an alleged plot to bribe his way into the race for mayor of New York City.

The "hall of shame" featuring state lawmakers is so astonishingly big that if it were a Major League Baseball team, it actually would have to cut players.

In fact, according to an insightful count kept by the Journal's Albany Bureau, at least 26 lawmakers have run into legal or ethical troubles over last 12 years.

On Tuesday, former state Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith joined the list, charged in a bribery and extortion scheme to get on the Republican ballot line for the New York City mayoral race.

The situation is completely intolerable.

Yes, Smith maintains his innocence and deserves his day in court. But what we know about the "hall of shame" list even before this case is adjudicated is enough to warrant massive reforms. In particular, many of those on the list have been convicted of felonies, yet they still collect annual publicly financed pensions that are greater than the average wage of families working honestly and earnestly in the mid-Hudson Valley and throughout the state.

That, too, simply has got to change, even if it means amending the state constitution to get at the problem.

There is no way that state taxpayers should be forking over $70,000 each year - more in some cases - to fund the pensions of political crooks. But that is what former state Sen. Vincent Leibell, R-Patterson, is pulling down after being jailed on federal felonies for tax evasion and obstruction of justice.

Meanwhile, former state Comptroller Alan Hevesi - a Democrat who was supposed to be the state's fiscal watchdog - is getting an approximate $100,000 annual pension after serving time on a public-corruption charge for misusing the state pension fund.

The list goes on, and some of the offenses are sickening. The roster includes former state Assemblyman Chris Ortloff, R-Plattsburgh, who was caught using the Internet to set up sexual encounters with preteen girls.

One state senator was convicted of assaulting his girlfriend; a state assemblywoman was found guilty of harassment; and several lawmakers have been taken down politically by sleeping with interns. The rest of the lot predominately have been caught in various political corruption cases.

Yes, the state did pass new ethics laws a few years back, and it does empower the attorney general to sue for part of the pension of public officials convicted of official malfeasance. But the law wasn't retroactive, holding harmless too many politicians who have been caught in various illegalities over the years.

The state needs a straightforward deterrent. Since state pensions do have some constitutional protections, state lawmakers should amend the constitution so such benefits could be rescinded if any government official is found guilty of a felony. Period.

With their guaranteed retirement pay on the line, maybe more lawmakers would think twice before breaking the public's trust and undermining government service.

As the roster of shame grows, no one can argue the current ethics laws are working.

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Editorial: Put pensions on the line to end corruption

The 'hall of shame' featuring state lawmakers is so astonishingly big that if it were a Major League Baseball team, it actually would have to cut players.